Mauser Broomhandle

H

highpower3006

New member
I thought I would take a moment to post a few pics of this Mauser Broomhandle that I just picked up. It is a wartime commercial set that I believe was made around 1916.

It is hard to see in my pictures, but the bluing is about 95% or so, with some wear on the back of the grip frame. The fire-bluing on the extractor and locking block has faded also. Still it is in pretty good shape for a gun that will be 100 years old in two months. There are no import marks, so it made it into the US before 1968 and I suspect that it may be a wartime souvenir.


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All numbers are matching on the pistol, including the shoulder stock.
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Leather holster dated 1916 came with the cleaning rod and spare magazine spring.
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I have two broomhandles and have looked at literally two or three hundred of them over the years. An all-matching piece with stock and holster is just about the unicorn of Mauser broomhandle specimens, they very rarely come on the market.

That holster/cleaning rod combo alone is worth several hundred dollars, but don't ever sell it except as part of the whole, and add it's value to the remainder, and then a bit more.

I will bet you that rig came directly off an officer's belt at the close of WWI and exchanged hands perhaps once or twice in the century since.
 
Thanks for the info. I knew it was a good one when I first saw it, but it seems that I did better than I thought. I have another Broomhandle that came out of China and it is beat to snot. I have been looking for a better one for a while now and this one just seemed to fall into my lap.
 
I LOVE it!!

Would I wouldn't give for a modern repro of these guns, in the "red nine" 9mm chambering. I bet with today's investment casting and CNC operations, one could be made for not too much money, probably doable for under $1500 MSRP. I'd buy one in a HEARTBEAT!!!
 
In the 1960's there was some interest in making a replica of the Mauser Broomhandle, in 9mm Luger as I recall, and perhaps some additional calibers. It was stated in the gun magazines such an undertaking would require about $2,000 worth of machining and hand work to match the original. That was pre-CNC, pre-CAD, off course, so that figure would be lower today, but inflation probably means $1,500-$2,000 is still a very valid number.

Having worked in a machine shop fabricating M2 barrels for the Army, and other stuff, I can tell you the Mauser pistol would try the talent of any good machinist.

I don't think the market would accept anything less than outstanding fit and finish comparable to the originals, that's a big part of the aura surrounding the pistol.

The shoulder stocks would not be permitted under current law, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
The "new C96" idea is like the "new Luger" that Mauser and Interarms lost big time on in the 1970's. And that was a lot more feasible because the tooling still existed. A whole bunch of people proclaimed loudly that they would be willing to pay big bucks for a new Luger; when it came time to pony up, the loudest mouths had the tightest wallets.

No CEO in his right mind would invest big bucks to make something only a few people would buy. Now, if anyone really wants a new C96, fine. Get a few hundred thousand like-minded folks to ante up $1000 each and contact about any gun or tool company.

Jim
 
They did come out with a new USA made stainless Luger a few decades back. (Got one.) My C96 broom handle is a rework done in the 1980's when the surplus ones were plentiful and cheap. Relined , matching nrs, new springs, and refinished to almost new.
 
Excellent Broomhandle!

Matching numbers in the gun is actually not really rare for German Broomhandles. They generally didn't get the mixmaster treatment other, later & more common pistols often did.

A matching number on the STOCK is extremely rare, and while I have no idea what amount of value it adds, I would think it add a good bit.

The shoulder stocks would not be permitted under current law, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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The shoulder stocks for Broomhandles (and other stocked pistols) have been legal, illegal, legal again, illegal and now sort of legal. My understanding of the CURRENT interpretation of the regulations is that authentic period stocks are legal to have with the gun. Modern made reproductions (despite being physically identical) are no longer legal to have with the gun.

I understand the reasoning is that the original era stocks are curio & relic class, reproductions are not. With a matching numbered stock, there is no doubt it is the original. (yes, anything could be faked, in this case, I would judge it authentic & original, and you'd need some good lab tests to prove otherwise)

Correct me if I'm wrong, or if the Fed has changed their mind, AGAIN, and I haven't heard of it, yet.

Outstanding find, a well preserved piece of history!
 
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